General Erich Hoepner

A Military Biography

by

W. Chales de Beaulieu

Translated by Linden Lyons

 This book is part of the 'Die Wehrmacht Im Kampf' series. These were written after World War II by German Officers about the Second World War II. These were used by the Allied armies to study the war through the eyes of the German command.

 As this is strictly a military biography, Hoepner's life is not really touched upon in the book. The author does devote a few pages at the end and the short Introduction touches upon it. Hoepner was involved in the June 20th, 1944, plot against Hitler. For his part in it, which is still debated, he was tortured and sentenced to death. However, we must not fall into the trap that many people do of assuming that the German generals were altruistic in their thinking. Some, if not most, had no problem with Germany attacking other countries. They just felt that Hitler was making a mess of it and wanted to fight the war their way. As long as Hitler was winning, they looked the other way to many other things. Hoepner himself had no problem with Germany attacking the Soviet Union etc.

 The book is separated into five chapters. These are:

The Campaign in Poland 1939

The Campaign in France 1940

The Advance to Leningrad 1941

The Assault on Moscow 1941

 General Hoepner was the commander of XVI Panzer Corps in the Polish Campaign. he also commanded it during the French Campaign. He was commander of Panzer Group 4 during Operation Barbarossa.

 The book was written by Hoepner's First General Staff Officer during the Polish Campaign, who then became his Chief of Staff during the French and Russian Campaigns. So, he had complete knowledge of General Hoepner's actions and thoughts during his service in World War II. 

 This book is unique in that you will usually find only a few lines written about the Polish Campaign. Those will invariably mention that the campaign went off like clockwork. This book shows how the vaunted German Heer was still very much learning from its mistakes in 1939. 

 When writing about the Japanese Military in World War II it is often stated that they suffered from 'victory disease', meaning that everything was going their way far too easily. I think we can see that the German High Command also suffered from this by the time of the invasion of Russia. The author shows how fearful at times the High Command was in 1939 and 1940 about the slightest hitch in any plan. Then he goes on to show us how they completely disregarded the facts and opinions of the German generals and the easily seen reality of the situation in 1941. The starts and stops that the German High Command forced the different commanders to deal with are revealed in the book. It also goes into what actually should have been done in each situation. 

 This is an excellent military biography of one of the chief Panzer commanders of the early part of World War II. The author shows us the thoughts and writings of Hoepner during these campaigns. It is a window into the inner workings of the Panzer forces early in the war.

Robert

Book: General Erich Hoepner: A Military Biography

Auther: W. Chales de Beaulieu

Publisher: Casemate Publishers

 Leningrad

The Advance of Panzer Group 4, 1941

W. Chales De Beaulieu

Translated by

Linden Lyons

 W. Chales de Beaulieu was the Chief of Staff for Panzer Group 4 when it and its commanding unit Army Group North invaded Russia. Army Group North's main job was to take Leningrad, and hook up with the Finnish troops. The book was first published in German in 1961. This was part of the series "Die Wehrmacht in Kampf" Battles and Problems of the Second World War. These are being published in English for the first time. The series is edited by Matthias Strohn, Head of Historical Anlysis at the CHACR, the British Army's strategic think tank, and Reader in Modern war Studies at Buckingham University, and an expert on the German Army.  

 

The book is short at 133 pages, but does come with eighteen appendices. It was written by an army officer, not a writer, so that is how it reads. The author explains in great detail about all of the Panzer Group's actions, and more importantly why those actions were taken. 

 Incredible as it seems, on the 10th of July 1941 two-thirds of the way to Leningrad had already been covered by the Panzer Group. That means on that date only 300 kilometers were between it and the city. The author believes that the OKH is to blame for most of Army Group North's stops and starts in the coming weeks and months before it arrived before Leningrad. He believes that the Panzer Group could have been at the city on August 18th. 

 One surprising thing about the author's tale is his views on Field Marshal Manstein (Manstein was in command of Panzer Korps LVI that was part of Panzer Group 4). It is clear from the text that he is not a fan at all of his. He also takes him to task for some of his writings. He believes either Manstein's memory had failed or he simply made up some of his remarks about the charge of the Panzer Group to Leningrad. 

 Thank you very much Casemate Publishers for allowing me to read this refreshing look at one large part of Army Group North's history in 1941.

Robert

Book: Leningrad: The Advance of Panzer group 4, 1941

Author: W. Chales De Beaulieu

Publisher: Casemate Publishers